Memorabilia question: what happens to the worn gloves?

There’s a very credible guy in the boxing memorabilia space named Bob Pace. He’d be your best bet to ask about this for real inside knowledge.

But I’ll give my layman’s try:

1 and 2) It depends a lot on the era, but in most cases in recent times I’d think that the commission takes control of the gloves after a fight … in case there’s some question of them being legal/tampered with/whatever. After that … who knows.

I think the promoter usually provides the gloves so they may be technically the promoter’s property and get returned to him.

I know in lower-level (club) fights I was involved with, the promoter provided the gloves. And some of these were actually televised fights in casinos, including some cards with title fights. Cornermen were urged not to cut the laces because a pair of gloves might be used until they start to show signs of wear and tear … they aren’t cheap and most promoters aren’t going to buy complete new sets for each fighter for each card.

I’d also guess that in some cases a champion (or a new champion) may ask to keep their gloves as a memento and that request is probably usually granted.

So as for where to start: reach out to the commission that oversaw the fight, and to the participants (start with the fighters themselves, then with cornermen, etc.). In short, you’re likely talking about a treasure hunt.

3) Let the buyer beware. A certificate of authenticity is basically worthless … it’s a signed sheet of paper. There has been some deep reporting on the sports memorabilia industry (as well as music/acting/etc) that shows a TON of autographed stuff out there is fake … and it usually comes with some certificate.

With autographed gloves and such, your best best to authenticate is if the seller provides not only a certificate but a photo of the boxer signing. Usually those are done in batches at shows and the serious collectors/memorabilia dealers strike a deal and want it authenticated by showing they had the champ signing a lot for them. Today it may be authenticated by video of the signing too (I’ve seen that in other realms, but not specifically boxing). At least you know the real champ did sign some stuff for the guy you’re buying from, which increases the chances of it being real greatly.

With trunks and robes, at least you can see photos of the boxer wearing them in the fight in question so you know it’s got a better chance of being real if he was wearing green trunks with a white stripe (and know it’s not if the trunks are white with a green stripe, haha).

But if you’re looking for a particular set of gloves worn in a particular fight and want to be 100% sure they’re the real deal … good luck with that. A dirty dealer or even a down-on-his-luck former champ might misrepresent an old pair of gloves as the ‘real thing’ you’re looking for, and how would you know? At best you can see they’re black Everlast and that’s what the guy wore.

The farther back in time you go, the better the chance you’d get hoodwinked as there’s just no way to know that the set you got is the real thing.

 

I wonder whatever happened to Muhammed Ali's glove from the Cooper fight?

 

Sometimes the worn gloves from a big fight are put up for auction like on E Bay.

 

I read that The gloves achieved $57,770 in auction at Christies in 2001

Henry Coopers gloves from that fight went for eighty five thousand pounds at Graham Budd auctions in 2016.
I liked the wording of the plaque in the frame that the gloves were presented in " THE GLOVES THAT DID NOT SPLIT"

 

Corey Spinks' belt was on an episode of pawn Stars, indeed they found it out to be a fake, it twas his 154 pound strap. Still quite a worth in the low thousands, or high hundreds methinks. I'll try to google the episode.

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It was on sale for $3000.